Shipping container and paying-off device



June 26, 1956 w. H. RICHARDSON 2,752,108

SHIPPING CONTAINER AND PAYINGOFF DEVICE Filed Aug. 28, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR WM ,1

h 9 ATTORNEYS June 6, 1956 w. H. RICHARDSON 2,752,108

SHIPPING CONTAINER AND PAYING-OFF DEVICE Filed Aug. 28, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 6 SHIPPING CONTAINER AND PAYING-OFF DEVICE William H. Richardson, Hamtlen, Conn., assignor to 'I he -Driscll Wire Company, Shelton, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application August 28, 1952, Serial No. 306,760

2 Claims. (Cl. 242-128) This invention relates to a container or support for a coil of wire or like material and more particularly to a device of this character which will serve as a container or barrel in which the wire may be shipped and also as a paying-oil device from which the wire may be unreeled when it is used in manufacturing operations.

In many manufacturing operations where the raw material consists of wire stock, the wire is purchased in the form of coils and the wire fed to the processing machine directly from the coil. Usually the coil must be removed from the case or barrel within which it is shipped and placed upon a reel or other paying-oil device from which it may be drawn into the machine.

It is contemplated by the present invention to provide a container for a coil or coils of wire or like material of such form that the container may be employed as a paying-off device or reel whereby the wire can be drawn directly from the container to the processing machine. In addition the container is so constructed that the wire may be drawn therefrom smoothly and evenly so that it will not become tangled or get out of control.

The container is so constructed that when the wire is unwound, it will follow around the supply coil, the latter remaining stationary. The free end of the wire is drawn upwardly about the edge of a laterally extending circular guide member of such diameter that it is drawn outwardly from the inner periphery of the coil and the wire is then led to a gathering sleeve or guide sleeve directly above the center of the coil or in line with the axis thereof. This manner of handling the wire enables it to be unwound from the coil smoothly and evenly.

One object of the present invention is to provide a container for a coil or coils of wire, which container may serve as a paying-off device when the wire is unwound from the coil for use.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which will involve no movable parts but at the same time will provide for the unwinding of the wire from the coil smoothly and evenly and with substantially uniform tension from beginning to end of the coil.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a container for a coil of wire or the like, which container will be provided with a circular guide flange above the coil, the edge of the flange projecting laterally over the coil and serving as a guide when the wire leaves the coil, and with means for bringing the wire after it leaves this guide flange to a gathering eye or guide member substantially in line with the axis of the coil.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a container embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the container with the cover removed and with the guide sleeve attached thereto;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a detail enlarged sectional view of the upper portion of the container; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 66 of Fig. 3 showing the manner of securing the supporting arm for the guide sleeve.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention 1 have shown in the drawings a container which, as illustrated, is of cylindrical form and comprises a bottom 10, a cylindrical side wall 11, and a top or cover 12. It will be understood that the particular cross sectional form of the container is not of importance in the invention, but it will preferably be of cylindrical form to accommodate the wire coils of circular form.

The cover 12 may fit over the edge of the container, as shown at 13 on Fig. 5 and be secured thereto by a clamping ring 14, the free ends of which are drawn together in the usual manner by a clamping lever 15 (Fig. 1). It will be understood that the container may be made of any desired material to be of the necessary strength to be employed as a shipping container for the wire coils, depending, of course, upon the size and weight of the coils.

Within the container is a drum or core member which, as illustrated, is also of cylindrical form and is disposed so that its outer surface is in spaced relation to the inner surface of the side wall 11 of the container so that the coil of wire shown diagrammatically at 16 may lie in this space with the drum or core extending upwardly through the opening in the coil.

This core comprises a lower member 17 which may be secured to the bottom 10 of the container in any suitable way and an upper section 18 also of cylindrical form which is telescopically related to the section 17 so that it may be moved upwardly and downwardly thereon. The sections 17 and 18 fit snugly together preferably with sufiicient friction so that when the member 18 is raised or lowered with respect to the section 17, it will remain in its adjusted position.

Secured at the upper end of the movable section 18 of the core is a cover member or hat 19 of circular shape, this cover member being provided with a circular flange 29 extending outwardly from the member 18 over the space between the core and the cylindrical wall 11 of the container. The edge portion 21 of the hat member may be rolled or turned upwardly slightly so as to present a smooth rounded edge which will contact the wire. The cover or hat member 19 may also be provided with openings 22 through which a user may insert his fingers to grasp the cover and raise the hat with respect to the lower section 17 of the core.

it is necessary to provide a lead or guide having a gathering opening through which the wire is led as it is unwound from the coil as in some instances this guide sleeve may be provided upon the processing machine or may be supported from such a machine. In the event that such an arrangement is not convenient, I have shown a guide supported by the wall 11 of the container.

To this end the container may be provided with a bracket 24 having a dove-tailed slot 25 therein in which slot is adapted to be detachably received the lower base portion 26 of an L-shaped supporting rod 27. As shown more especially in Figs. 2 and 3, the horizontally disposed arm of this supporting rod extends over the container substantially to the central portion thereof and carries at its free end a sleeve-like guide member 28 having an opening 29 therethrough. This opening is substantially at the center of the container and, therefore, substantially at the center of the cylindrical core memher and of the coil of wire 16.

The sleeve member 23 may be adjustably supported in the member 27 so that its height above the hat 19 may be adjusted. For this purpose the supporting member 27 may be provided with a ring 30 through which the sleeve 28 is received and aset screw 31 provided to secure the sleeve in place. 7

In use the cover is removed from the container as is also the hat 19 and section 13 of the core to which it is attached, and the coil of wire placed in the container so as to lie between the core 17 and the outer wall 11 of the container. The hat is now replaced with the core section 18 being telescopically received upon the section 17 until the flange portion 20 is moved downwardly below the upper edge of the container. The top or cover 12 is now replaced and clamped in position by the ring 14 and the container with its contained coil is ready for shipment.

When it is desired to unwind the wire for processing, the cover is removed from the container and the hat is adjusted vertically so that it lies from two to three inches above the top of the coil, thus providing a gap between the edge of the flange and the wall of the container through which the wire may be drawn. As shown in Fig. 3, the operator may grasp the hat by extending his fingers through the openings 22. The supporting member 27 is positioned in the bracket 24- and the free end of the wire 32 drawn through the opening 29 and led to the processing machine.

The guide sleeve 23 may be adjusted vertically depending upon the type of wire and the speed with which the wire is drawn from the coil. In general the stiffer the wire the lower the guide, while the softer the wire the higher the guide should be with respect to the hat 19. Also in general the greater the speed with which the wire is unwound, the higher the gathering eye should be in order that the wire may be drawn oif Without becoming tangled.

it will be noted that, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the 9 wire 32 as it comes from the coil 16 is drawn upwardly and outwardly about the edge 21 of the flange 20 so that it is usually brought out of the container at a greater distance from the coil center than it is when lying on the coil. After reaching the edge 21 of the flange 20, the wire is brought to a gathering point at the center of the core, the wire traveling around the edge 21 of the flange as it unwinds and assuming the position shown in full and dotted lines in Fig. 2.

It will be found that with this arrangement the wire may be unwound from the coil at a relatively high speed without tangling, and the free end thereof will travel or spin smoothly and evenly about the guide edge 21 of the flangeZil and when brought back to a gathering point at the center to pass through the opening 29 will not tend to twist or turn on itself to form a kink.

In handling some types of wire, there may be a tendency for the wire to turn on itself and form a loop or kink between the upper surface of the cover or hat 19 and the guide sleeve 28. In order to prevent any such tendency a disk-like member 34 may be employed, as shown for example, in Figs. 2 and 3. This member is placed on the upper surface of the hat 19 and is provided with an opening 35 at its center through which the wire may pass. This disk-like member is of circular shape and slightly smaller in diameter than the top portion of 4 the hat 19. The wire 32 passes over the flange 20 and underneath the edge of the disk member 34, and thence upwardly through the opening 35 to the guide sleeve 28, as shown in Fig. 3.

This disk 34 may be made of fiber, cardboard or any suitable material and rests by its own weight on that portion of the wire which has been drawn upwardly and over the edge of the hat. The disk floats on the moving wire to some extent and will prevent any tendency of the wire to kink before it reaches the sleeve 28.

While the shipping and paying-01f container has been described in detail for packaging wire and like material, it is equally useful with nonmetallic strands such as yarn, thread, and the like.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within'the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. Means for supporting a coil of wire or rod material comprising a container having an outer wall and a bottom, a cylindrical core member therein having its outer surface spaced from the inner surface of the container wall, said core member comprising two telescopically related parts, one of which is fixed to the bottom of the container, the other core part having a laterally extending flange on the outer end thereof and being adjustable vertically relatively to the fixed part to raise said flange above the outer wall of the container and vary the distance of said flange from the'bottom of the container, and a disk member lying freely within said flange, said disk member being provided with a relatively small central opening to receive the wire as it comes from the coil ever said flange.

2. Means for supporting a coil of wire or rod material comprising a container, a core member disposed within the container, the outer surface of which is spaced from the inner wall of the container to accommodate a coil in said space, said core comprising two telescopically and frictionally related parts, one of which may be adjusted relatively to the other and frictionally retained in adjusted position, and a flange on said movable part extending laterally therefrom over the space between the container and core member with its edge in spaced relation to the container wall, a guide member secured in a position above the flange and substantially centrally of the flange to guide the wire into contact with the. edge of the flange, said member comprising a sleeve-like element having an opening therethrough, the axis of the opening extending substantially in the direction of the axis of the coil, and a disk member of relatively light weight freely disposed within said flange below said sleeve-like element, said disk member having a relatively small central opening therein to permit passage of the wire therethrough between said flange and said sleeve-like element.

References Cited in'the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 292,496 La Tour Ian. 29, 1884 331,855 White Dec. 8, 1885 2,338,539 Quinlan Jan. 4, 1944 2,552,086 Bugg May 8, 1951 2,566,801 Jackson Sept. 4, 1951 2,605,060 Bell July 29, 1952 

